Canucks Prospect Report: Brzustewicz, Bains, Bloom & More
Brzustewicz continues his march toward 100 points, Bains becomes an AHL All-Star, Bloom returns to the OHL and a chance for a Memorial Cup & more!
The Vancouver Canucks have been exciting to watch this season, and so have a lot of their prospects. Leading the way is undoubtedly current OHL points leader Hunter Brzustewicz, who started the season on a heater and has seemingly never cooled off. Jonathan Lekkerimaki has also put on a show both in the Swedish Hockey League with Orebro and the World Juniors with Team Sweden where he won the tournament MVP award, despite not walking away with a gold medal. Then there’s Arshdeep Bains, the former Red Deer Rebel who has taken his act to Abbotsford and is now an AHL All-Star.
All of that and more in the first Canucks prospect report of 2024. Let’s dive in!
Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Getting off the schneid since our last update is Bains who has four goals and six points in five games. The former Western Hockey League leading scorer from 2021-22 is also going to his first AHL All-Star Classic as he was given the honour by the league last Wednesday (Jan. 10). He currently leads the Canucks with 32 points in 31 games and sits in a five-way tie for 10th in the AHL with Brandt Clarke, Anthony Richard, Brandon Gignac and Cooper Marody. He is also only seven points away from shattering his total from his entire rookie season (66 games).
Source: Abbotsford Canucks Twitter
Vasily Podkolzin had his second multi-goal game of the season on Jan. 7 against the Coachella Valley Firebirds when he scored twice in regulation in a 6-5 shootout win. He also scored a slick goal in the shootout.
Max Sasson has had a productive rookie season in the AHL following a brief seven-game stint after coming over from Western Michigan University last season. He got into double digits with his 10th of the season on Jan. 7 in that same win over the Firebirds and has become a reliable two-way forward for head coach Jeremy Colliton. The Canucks have outscored their opponents 18-5 with him on the ice and he is now tied for second in goals with Podkolzin and Jeremy Stevens. He could be an interesting call-up option for Vancouver if they need some versatility in the bottom six at some point.
Aatu Raty set a new career-high for goals with his eighth on Jan. 3 versus the Bakersfield Condors. His previous high was seven in his rookie season with the Bridgeport Islanders before coming over in the Bo Horvat trade in January 2023.
Since his 34-save shutout against the Ontario Reign on Dec. 21, Arturs Silovs has struggled to keep the puck out of the net. In the five starts following that brilliant performance, he has allowed 21 goals for a 4.20 goals-against average (GAA). His team hasn’t helped him out too much though allowing an average of 36 shots a game.
Silovs’ counterpart, Nikita Tolopilo hasn’t fared too well either, allowing six goals in two starts. However, the team has played better in front of him with under 30 shots against in both games.
Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL)
Brzustewicz doesn’t appear to have an off-button this season. He has continued to dominate the OHL with 16 points in his last 10 games and is now tied for first in the entire league with 67 points in 42 games. He is still on pace to eclipse the 100-point mark and could be the first defenceman since Ryan Ellis to hit triple-digits in the OHL. The now-Philadelphia Flyer put up 101 points for the Windsor Spitfires in 2010-11. If Brzustewicz hits the projected 109 points, he would tie Shawn Evans (Peterborough Petes, 1983-84) for the sixth-most in OHL history. Why he doesn’t have a gold medal around his neck from the 2024 World Juniors is beyond me.
Kirill Kudryavtsev has gone cold over his last 10 games with only one assist against the Barrie Colts on Jan. 6. If he doesn’t pick it up soon, he is in danger of falling behind the 50 points he recorded last season.
Vilmer “Ricky Bobby” Alriksson has broken through his December slump and is off to a good start in 2024. He already has two goals and three points in the month and scored his ninth of the season on Jan. 12 against Kudryavtsev and the Soo Greyhounds with a powerful drive to the net. If he can translate that to the NHL, defenders will have a hard time containing his 6-foot-6 frame.
After an underwhelming stint in the AHL and ECHL, Josh Bloom was sent back to the OHL and the Saginaw Spirit earlier this month. He seems to have fallen into a good situation though as the Spirit are one of the top teams in the league. Joining top prospects Owen Beck (Montreal Canadiens), Hunter Haight (Minnesota Wild), Matyas Sapovaliv (Vegas Golden Knights) and Michael Misa, who is destined to be the first-overall pick in 2025, he will have a good chance to finish his junior career with a Memorial Cup. He already has four assists in five games playing on the top line with Beck, and could be in for an exciting finish to the season.
Finally, we have another defenceman having a great season points-wise in Sawyer Mynio. While he’s on a basement-dwelling team that just broke out of a nine-game losing skid, he is only five points from a new career-high and has eight points in his last 10 games. His plus/minus (minus-6) has taken a drastic turn for the worse from his plus-50 in 2022-23, but that’s what happens when most of your stars transition to the NHL or age out of junior. Regardless, after a draft year where he was described as a quiet defender like Chris Tanev or Jaccob Slavin, he’s turning into a reliable two-way defenceman capable of putting up points as well.
NCAA
After a solid World Juniors where he played top minutes on the blue line and scored his first goal, Tom Willander returned to North America with a silver medal rather than a gold. Team Sweden fell to Team USA in the gold medal game 6-2, and Willander was a minus-2 in 17:37 of ice time. He has since played two games with Boston University and added another assist to his total in their 3-0 shutout win over the University of New Hampshire on Jan. 13.
Leading all Canucks prospects in the NCAA in points, Ty Mueller already has 17 on the season and four points in his last two games. Selected in the fourth round by the Canucks in 2023, he could be on his way to Abbotsford at the end of the season if he decides to forego his senior year and sign his entry-level contract. Touted as a jack-of-all-trades player (Elite Prospects 2023 Draft Guide), he could be a solid depth option down the road - akin to what Sasson is right now.
Daimon Gardner scored his first goal in the NCAA on Jan. 6 versus Canisius College. The 6-foot-4 pivot has struggled to find his offensive game this season after 42 points in 46 games in the United States Hockey League (USHL), so hopefully this is a springboard to more goals in the future.
Source: Clarkson Men’s Hockey Twitter
Europe (SHL, Liiga, Allsvenskan)
As mentioned off the top, Lekkerimaki was a star at the World Juniors for Team Sweden picking up seven goals and 10 points in seven games. He also walked away with a handful of honours including the tournament MVP, a top-three player on Team Sweden, and a spot on the Media All-Star Team. Gold was his ultimate goal, though, and Sweden fell short of that. He won’t get a chance to avenge that loss either as he will turn 20 before the next WJC in Ottawa. His next step will be the AHL either at the end of this season. If his Orebro squad fails to make the playoffs, he could join Abbotsford for their playoff run. Since returning to the SHL, he has one assist in two games.
Elias Pettersson also returned to league play this past week after a solid showing at the World Juniors. He was deployed in the top-four and on the penalty kill for Sweden and showcased his physicality on multiple occasions. The 6-foot-4 modern-day defensive defenceman will also likely make his AHL debut this season as GM Patrik Allvin has said that the organization wants to get him over to Abbotsford as soon as possible. “The next step for Elias is to come over to North America,” said Allvin. “The plan is to come over for next year, but whenever they're done, we'll bring him in and start working with Elias right away. I hope he will get into some games with Abbotsford. He is capable and he’s ready for that. I think he’s excited about playing for Abbotsford too.”
Joni Jurmo also scored his first goal of the season earlier this week against TPS in a 2-1 loss. Since his move to KooKoo from Ilves, he has three points in four games.
That does it for the first Canucks prospect report of 2024. Stay tuned for another one at the end of the month as we continue to follow their progress throughout 2023-24.